Name: Architecture as Visual Text: Interpreting Institutional Identity at The Brick City
Start: 2026-10-08T11:00:00-0400
End: 2026-10-08T11:30:00-0400

Architecture as Visual Text: Interpreting Institutional Identity at The Brick City

Thursday October 8, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am EDT

Studio

Architecture and campus design function as visual texts that communicate institutional identity, cultural values, and collective memory. This paper examines the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) campus through a visual literacy framework, exploring how its built environment reflects changing educational and societal priorities. Constructed in the late 1960s, RIT emerged during a modernist era characterized by efficiency, technological progress, and industrial rationality. The brick façades, geometric forms, and post-brutalist aesthetic symbolized professional preparation and organizational effectiveness. Over the years it became known as “The Brick City”. As higher education has evolved, there has been a shift toward creativity, collaboration, entrepreneurship, and community. Recent campus developments reveal a corresponding transformation in architectural design, softening the original industrial character while fostering interaction and innovation. Viewed through a visual literacy lens, the RIT campus serves as a living narrative that preserves institutional memory while adapting to contemporary cultural values and future aspirations.

Speakers

David Neumann

Professor of Communication, Rochester Institute of Technology

David Neumann is a Professor of Communication at Rochester Institute of Technology. For over 40 years his teaching and scholarship has centered on visual communication, group dynamics, strategic communication, and the intersections of technology and pedagogy.

Thursday October 8, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am EDT
Studio

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IVLA 2026 Charleston

David Neumann

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David Neumann

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